Rupert Hospice with an operatic twist

Experience opera on the North Coast with resident Eleonora “Ellie” Higginson.

The musical event is themed “Timelessness: Honouring and Remembering” for the Prince Rupert Hospice Society and is scheduled to take place on Monday, June 6 at 7 p.m. at Prince Rupert’s United Church.

Admission is by donation for the performance, which also features Bonnie Juniper on piano.

“Honouring and remembering is appropriate for the hospice. I’m excited to attend and see the pieces she’s chosen that will reflect that part. It’s a gift from her to us,” said president of the Hospice Society, Judy Riddell.

Higginson proposed to do the charity event for the hospice.

The soprano singer studied voice performance at the University of British Columbia and voice and opera performance at the Vancouver Academy of Music. She recently performed with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra and the Grand théatre de Québec. Higginson also teaches piano and singing lessons to adults and children in the city.

The Hospice Society is grateful that Higginson is singing for their cause. The hospice has been active since 2009 and trains volunteers annually. Members offer support and visit people who are at the end of their life. It’s a self-referred free service for all members of the community.

They also provide grief support twice a year and do community education around end-of-life care and advanced care planning.

“We’ve been laying the foundations for a couple years and now it’s starting to gel,” Riddell said.